Secret Friend From the Past
by anibutterfly
Summary: The Ninja Academy Graduation is tomorrow and it unearths memories of a friend no one knew Naruto had. No couples just Naruto and one of my OCs
1. Just An Ordinary Day

A bird was chirping somewhere in the distance. Konoha seemed as sunny as ever with people bustling and children being released from their classrooms at the ninja academy. At least most of the children were being released. As the classroom taught by Iruka Sensei clears, there is still one blonde-haired boy wearing green goggles with a pathetically bored look on his face still occupying a seat.

"Now Naruto you should've known you would get punished for putting all those pop out snakes in my drawer and writing all those words on the board before class started. Not to mention finding the time to skip class and graffiti all over the Kage Faces." Naruto gave an impish grin. "I dunno Sensei I thought my joke was pretty good. Besides how come you always assume I do every little thing that goes wrong around here?" "Ha! The other students don't have to do things like that. You do plenty of mischief around here to account for half the population of konoha! You must have some nerve if you've got the guts to pull this stuff before the graduation exam tomorrow. You still can't even manage to make a decent shadow clone yet either."

Naruto glared at Iruka Sensei, but for once he just kept quiet and resumed his bored expression. Slowly he laid his head on the desk and stared out the window. Iruka was surprised. Naruto could argue with a brick wall for hours so it was rare for him to just back off. He studied Naruto's expression and faintly wondered what was going through the aggravating yet lovable ramen eaters head. As he thought about it he suddenly realized where the boy's thoughts might've wondered, and a slow, sad smile spread across the Sensei's face. "Wonder if I should ask him about it?" he thought. After reexamining the blonde boy's expression, however, he decided to just leave him alone with his thoughts for a while, and began grading papers.

In truth Naruto probably wouldn't have answered even if the ground were to disappear out from under his feet suddenly. He was wrapped in the memories of 5 years ago, his first years at the academy. I say memories, but the figures that danced in them might as well have been ghosts by now. He normally wouldn't let them consume him like this, but today did mark that day. The two days of that year he kept in gleeful yet painful memory finally overwhelmed him, and before he closed his eyes he dared to look at that seat. The seat where his gaze used to meet those warm black eyes that would somehow let him know that everything was all right. His eyes closed and the world went dark.


	2. Unexpected BFF

_ "Hey Naruto, How long are you gonna lay there sleeping? I thought we had something good planned today!" An eight year old Naruto opened his eyes. He had to blink several times to make out the figure standing in the sun. "Hn?" he muttered, still not completely awake. Then the face that belonged to the voice was right in front of him with both of her bright black eyes dead centered above his. "C'mon Naruto! I've waited all day for this! Hurry up and get moving or we'll get caught before we even get started!" Naruto rubbed his eyes and blinked twice. "Oh yeah." _

_ He stared at his companion trying to finish waking up. She was a small, dainty girl the same age and rank as him. She had black hair and eyes, light skin, and her outfit consisted of black sweats with blue stripes that stopped right underneath her knees, a blue tank top, and a jacket that resembled the pants that she kept unzipped. She had an innocent appearance with her hair tugged back in a ponytail that reflected her bouncy nature. This, in a nutshell, was Lorienn Uchiha. Everyone called her Lori for short though. She happened to be the twin of his worst enemy, Sasuke Uchiha. Not like you could tell. She was the black sheep of her family, and her twin seemed to avoid her a lot because of it. She was also, coincidentally, Naruto's partner in crime. Today their crime was to get on the Kage Mountain and graffiti on the Kage's faces. Naruto got hyped up all over again._

"_Alright!" he yelled. "Let's go! What time is it?" _

"_It's 2:30."_

"_What!" he exclaimed. "School will be out in 30 minutes! That's not enough time!"_

"_Well I tried to wake you up, but there's no hope of getting anything done now."_

"_So then…that means…"_

_The devious grins that lit up their faces said it all. They pumped their fists in the air, yelled double time, and ran toward Kage Mountain at full speed. They got there 20 minutes later. _

"_Darn it!" griped Naruto. "Only 10 minutes left to do anything to it!"_

"_Quit complaining then and start painting! Might as well put something there." snapped Lori. _

"_Hey what are you two doing!" a sentry yelled._

_ The kids whirled around. "Aw man one of them got here early!" exclaimed Naruto. Lori tugged his arm. "Let's get out of here," she said. "If I get caught I'll get in trouble with Dad again!" That got the little blonde to high tail it. If there was one thing Naruto knew about Lori's Dad, it was that if you valued your life you didn't get on his bad side. He already hated that Lori hung out with him. He didn't want to know what might happen to Lori, not to mention him, if they got caught doing another prank together. After a while the two finally lost the Sentry down a random ally, and stopped to catch their breath. "Wahoo!" Naruto exclaimed. "We didn't do much and still managed to not get caught!" Lori glared at him. "I don't see how it's anything to brag about, but ok your right. At least we didn't get…." The shrill yell that froze their blood came out of nowhere. "UZUMAKI NARUTO! LORIENN UCHIHA! HOW DARE YOU TRY AND SKIP MY CLASS AGAIN!" _

_ And that was how they ended up getting detention together. Of course, being the lovely children they were, they couldn't sit still for that long and a chalk__**/**__eraser battle shortly ensued. "Geez!" ranted Iruka after they had successfully managed to cover themselves and him in chalk. "What in the world am I going to do with you two? One of you makes bad grades and skips class all the time to go do pranks," Naruto snorted at this. "And the other has perfect grades and still skips class all the time to do the same thing!" Lori suppressed a giggle. Iruka sighed. "Well considering things you didn't do much this time so I'll let you both go, and I won't call Lori's parents if you both show up to class tomorrow." "Thanks Iruka Sensei!" they yelled. Both were out the door in a flash. When they stopped Naruto turned to Lori._

"_Well that was fun, but what should we do now?"_

"_I don't know. What do you want to do?"_

"_Hmmm it's too early for Ichiraku ramen, and we can't pull any pranks cause the sentries are watching. Oh! How bout we go to the park. I bet Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba are there. Maybe they'll let us play!"_

"_Ok. That sounds good."_

_ As they headed to the park they talked about numerous things. Training, jutsu, some of their classmates, weapons, books (not that Naruto bothered to read. That was Lori's department), water, sunsets. There wasn't anything they couldn't tell each other. It was the kind of friendship where you could just look at them and know right off the bat the pair was the best of friends. If no one knew better and it weren't for the difference in appearance the two could easily be mistaken for siblings. _

_ They got to the park where Naruto usually went to try and join in a game while Lori sat underneath a lone tree reading or doodling. He often noticed that Lori didn't enjoy the games as he did. Or maybe it wasn't the games, but the people. He had met Lori a year ago, and as he had gotten to know her he began to notice different things in her manner (Not unlike most close friends do). She was a workaholic when it came to training. She loved books, drawing, writing, and singing, anything to do with fine arts really. She volunteered at the hospital frequently, which meant she was a familiar face to a lot of people. Any talk of her family was off limits. She was quiet and often kept to herself. You had to listen when she talked though. You just couldn't help it. He wasn't in love with her. Not at all. What the two children had could simply be called a bond of inspired respect between two people that was understood only by them._

_ Anyway, back to the park. Lori obviously didn't talk to a lot of people her own age. She was more used to talking to the nurses and teachers that took interest in her as well as her Mom and older brother. No she was quite fine just observing Naruto attempt to join the games that usually went on. Naruto didn't do that today though. In fact, Lori looked up at him in surprise when he sat next to her instead of rushing out to play. "Is there a game going on you want to join?" he asked carefully. Lori looked across the playground that was currently populated with the academy students since school had ended. She could've refused the games, but it was rare when he encouraged her to play with him on the playground with the other kids. Naruto watched her glance around till her eyes lingered on something. "Find something?" She gingerly lifted her finger and pointed. "What's that?" Naruto followed her gaze to some boys playing with a large ball. "That?" he asked. She nodded. "It's kickball. You want to try it?" A little annoyed by his questions she curtly nodded again. He grinned from ear to ear and bounced to his feet. "Ok, I'll go ask if we can join." _

_ She watched him run over to the boys without moving. She knew what the outcome would probably be, but again he had asked her to join. This only meant one thing, her friend had been thinking. Since a thinking Naruto was normally a dangerous thing to reckon with, she just decided to let everything play out. Sure enough a few minutes later a dejected looking Naruto came back over and sat down next to her. There was a long silence for a moment. She finally broke it. "It looked like a really lame game anyway, especially the way they were playing it. They looked like they were stumbling all over themselves." Naruto gave a small smile. Before he knew it he was on his feet being dragged by his arm. "Lori what're you doing?" "We're gonna go train and let off some steam." A few minutes later they were throwing kunai at a small target on the tree in front of them. As usual they were having a random discussion._

"_So what if the grass was blue and the sky were green?"_

"_We'd all be upside down. If a stone statue blinked, what would you do?"_

"…_Poke it. What about you?"_

"_I'd trip you, run, then tell you to hurry up and run."_

"_Hey!"_

"_You asked."_

"_How do babies get made?'_

"_Asked my Mom once, but she had a hard time saying anything. Itachi was cracking up the whole time she was trying to explain too."_

"_I heard it's really gross."_

"_Oh well, we don't have to worry about that."_

"…_Orange is a lot better than blue."_

"_Yeah and you'd stick out like a sore thumb in the woods."_

"_An expert ninja's appearance should be flashy."_

"_You don't need flashy, you have a mouth."_

"…_Lori, why do you hang out with me?"_

_Lori turned to look at him in surprise. "You're my friend," she said not exactly sure what he was fishing for or why he had change the discussion to a more serious note. "Why else would I?"_

"_That's not what I meant." Naruto looked uncomfortable. "You could have plenty of friends in school. It's not like anyone hates you for no reason. Plus you're an Uchiha, and you're obviously better than me at all the ninja stuff." He motioned to the target she hadn't missed yet. "And I know your Dad and your twin don't like me. I don't even think your mom and brother like me. So why did you choose me of all people for your best friend?"_

_Lori hopped off the log she had been reclining on and looked at him for a second before saying, "Anybody ever told you how dangerous it is when you actually think?" _

_Naruto cracked a grin. "Yep! You!" _

_ She looked like she was deciding something and started playing with a leftover raindrop from that morning. He briefly admired the birthmark on her right hand that looked like two dragon wings unfolding with its tail disappearing up her arm and into her jacket. The tail twined around her arm and ended just below her elbow, but her jacket covered the tail so you could only see the wings at the moment. Naruto started when she spoke again. "Let's go back to that hill where we were this afternoon." It was rare for her to outright request a destination instead of dragging him there so he was more than willing._

_ By the time they got to the hill they had the perfect view of the sun painting the sky as it started to sink in the sky. They both sat there for a minute (They are 8 after all. We can't expect them to stop for more than 3 minutes at the maximum). "It's really pretty," Naruto piped up. "Yeah," Lori said. "It's because you're special." Naruto looked at her dumbfounded. "Huh?" She looked at the sky as she talked._

"_You're really clumsy, you have the worst grades in class, you're hated by half this village for some unknown reason, and well…you're just you."_

_Naruto scowled. "That makes no sense at all."_

_Knowing her friend to well she tactfully changed the subject. "Hey Naruto you've never told me, but how come you want to be Hokage so badly?"_

_He got that spark in his eyes that he always seemed to have when he was passionate about something. "I'm gonna be the strongest ninja in the world! Then no one will look down on me anymore and I'll be recognized as a part of this village!"_

_Lori sniggered. Naruto glowered. "What?"_

"_You're not gonna get anywhere with your grades right now."_

"_Wha!" A grass fight ensued shortly after. It went on until the blonde had drenched her hair in it to satisfaction. As they started picking the green stuff off each other he suddenly remembered his point. "Hey you still didn't answer my question."_

_Lori looked at the sun. "Maybe tomorrow," she said. "I have to go home now or Mom will worry." She walked over to Naruto and they clasped their pointer and ring finger fingers together as their signature farewell. "See you tomorrow."_


	3. A Bet, Believe It, Bad News

_ In the morning Naruto realized he had forgotten that today was the day they moved up a grade in school. No wonder Iruka Sensei had been so lenient on them the day before. There was no way they would've skipped school today even if they could. He met her on the road to school after she separated from Sasuke and arrived to school a short time later. He was seated in the back and she was seated in the front, but that didn't stop them from grinning at each other and making hand signs across the room. To Naruto's delight it seemed to miff off Sasuke. Bonus! After school they went straight to kunai practicing. "Yahoo!" Naruto exclaimed completely missing his mark. "We moved up a rank!"_

"_Yeah now we're Academy Students instead of New Academy Students," Lori said sarcastically checking around the tree._

"_What're you doing?"_

"_Making sure you didn't hit some innocent animal with that kunai. Though most have probably realized it's best to run in terror when you come crashing through here." More grass throwing._

"_I'm gonna show you!" He wildly pointed. "Just wait! When we both graduate as Genin in a few years I'm gonna get stronger and beat you in a sparring match then we'll see who has the last laugh!" _

_Lori smirked. "You willing to make a bet on that buddy?"_

"_Heck yeah I am, and when I win you're gonna admit I'm the greatest ninja out loud in public and you're gonna treat me to Ichiraku Ramen for a whole month!" His grin was so big as he made this declaration that Lori was surprised it hadn't fallen off his face. _

_She laughed. "Deal!"_

"_Wait you have to make a bet too just in case I lose."_

"_Oh? Just in case huh?" A just as equally big yet disturbing grin framed the girl's face. "Fine, then if I win you have to be my permanent sparring partner and I decide everything each time we go at it. That means the location, the weapons, and the audience." Naruto gulped. She could humiliate him very easily with those conditions. "F-f-fine," he managed. "Guess we'll just see in five years when we graduate then." _

_ The rest of the day was another fun one. They played around in the woods, trained, went swimming, trained, ate ramen, trained some more, then finally laid on their backs watching the clouds before the sun disappeared again. Such trivial moments people would take for granted meant the world to these two children._

"_You know you still haven't answered my question from yesterday," Naruto said._

"_Hn?"_

"_Don't Hn me, answer the question. Why are you friends with me?"_

"_I told you. It's because you're special."_

"_What do you mean?"_

_Lori sighed and sat up. "You're…how do I say this… real," she said._

_Naruto blinked. It was obvious he didn't understand._

_ So she continued. "You don't care about power much, even when you're sad you laugh it off like it's nothing, you stand up for people even when they don't like you, and you never ever give up talking about becoming Hokage and getting people to accept who you are. When people actually get to know you they take you into account and respect you like Iruka Sensei does. I'm jealous of you. You can be yourself and it's so easy for you."_

"_But it's just like you said yesterday," he yelled. "I'm clumsy, I make bad grades, half the people in this village hate me and I have no idea why. I'm just dreaming aren't I? I couldn't become Hokage. Not ever."_

_ Before he knew it the raven-haired girl was in his face and pegged him in the forehead with her two fingers. "Yes you can." She said it confidently and evenly as she looked at her best friend. "And even if you beat me in that sparring match, I would still volunteer to be your sparring partner even if we're not on the same team when we graduate. We'll still be best friends for a long time." Naruto looked at her like she had given him a great gift. "Really? Then you'll always be my best friend no matter what? Even if we don't ever see each other a lot after graduation? Even if your family still hates me?"_

_ Lori stood up, faced Naruto where he sat, looked him strait in the eyes, and with a quick sweet smile gave him a thumbs up and said, "It's the promise of a lifetime. Believe it!" The blonde grinned then frowned and yelled, "You could've been nicer! What'd you go and peg me in the head for?" Lori chuckled. "Habit I picked up from my brother."_

_ The rest of the time they spent laughing and talking like they usually did. They boasted about how well they were going to do at the academy and occasionally talked about classmates they would like for team members when they graduated. There were more grass fights as well. When the day was almost gone they entwined their fingers in their usual farewell while the birds chirped their last tunes of the day. When she was a ways down the road Lori called back over her shoulder, "I'll be winning that bet buddy!" Naruto laughed and waved. The smile never left his face as he went home and snuggled in bed content just to know he had a best friend who would never leave and would always believe in him no matter how many people hated him._

_ When he woke up the next morning he couldn't wait to get through with school so he and Lori could train together. He was surprised when he didn't see her coming down the road they usually met on. "Huh," he thought. "Guess she slept late." He didn't start worrying till school was almost over and she had never shown up to class. Her twin wasn't there either. Apparently he was in the hospital. Maybe Iruka would know something. I waited until everyone left to ask._

"_Hey Iruka Sensei!"_

_Iruka looked up from his papers. "Yes Naruto?"_

"_You know where Lori is? She wasn't here all day so I thought maybe she skipped and forgot to tell me y'know? I heard her bratty twin's in the hospital though. Did she skip to help take care of him? Heh bout time somebody bea…" _

_Iruka's expression made Naruto stop speaking. He stared at Naruto in horror for a moment and rubbed his face with his hands like he was exhausted. _

"_Iruka Sensei…"_

"_Oh Naruto I thought you knew. I thought surely someone would've told you."_

"_Told me what?" Naruto was torn between the urge to know and the urge to run, but he stood his ground. _

_Iruka Sensei looked tired. "Naruto…the whole Uchiha clan was massacred last night. Sasuke's in the hospital because he was the only survivor of the whole clan_

"_Oh. Oh," said Naruto. What else was there to say? He wanted scream. He wanted to trash the classroom. He wanted to go to her house and drag her here to show Iruka Sensei she was alive. A sound like glass cracking resonated through eight-year old Naruto's body. "Something broke," he told Iruka Sensei. Then he went home and just sat there in his room staring and not moving only God knows how long. _


	4. Back to the Ordinary

He could feel something shaking him awake. "Naruto!" He recognized Iruka Sensei's voice as the memories released him and became ghosts once again. He rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?" Sensei handed him a bucket and sponge. "It's time for me to supervise you cleaning all the graffiti off the Kage faces as your punishment." Naruto groaned. "None of that now, you brought this on yourself." When they got to the Kage faces Naruto stepped back to admire his work. Iruka surprised him by putting his hands on his shoulder and smiling. "She would've been proud," he said. Naruto stared for a moment at his Sensei, then smiled and shook his head. "No," he said. "She would've shamed me by doing an even better job. Then she'd laugh." Iruka went up the mountain before Naruto to make sure he would do his job willingly. Naruto was lost in memories for a moment again as he stared up at the faces carved out in the rock. He smiled. "I guess I'll be winning that bet after all buddy," he whispered. Then, he climbed the scaffold leaving whatever was left of the ghosts behind him on the ground.


	5. Not so Hopeless After All

Somewhere there are four characters in a clearing who have just escaped death. They have just escaped after being imprisoned in one of the many illegal mining and experimentation facilities that runs underground in the ninja world. There had finally been an uprising about their harsh treatment and the drugs they were being forced to help create. These three had helped overthrow this man with what little they knew and finally gained their freedom. The group was made up of two boys and two girls in tattered grey t-shirts and shabby brown pants. Their ankles and wrists are chaffed where cuffs had rubbed the skin raw. Cuts and bruises are evident all over their bodies, and starvation has left its mark on them.

The two boys are brothers, twins to be exact. They are both around fifteen and have semi-dark complexions with brown hair around the same color. The younger brother, Riyu, (REE-YOO) has his hair longer than his brother, Ryu, (RI-YOO) for whatever reason. Whether it's to define one brother from the other or simply because his hair got longer faster none can know. Their one striking feature is their shining gold colored irises that reflected back the sunlight. They were, at the moment, resting on a tree watching the sun go down.

The girls were both thirteen. One, Airi, could've been easily been mistaken as the twin's younger sister. She had the same brown hair and semi-dark skin tone. Her waist-length hair, though messy, curled around one side of her neck somehow making her seem elegant despite the ratty clothing. Her bright blue eyes seemed to dominate over the rest of her dark features holding in it questions only God could possibly ever hope to answer. Off the rock she had perched on she inclined her head to the other girl sitting over the edge of the hill. "Where shall we go?"

The last girl was the stand out of the group. Her complexion was light. The shoulder-length black hair that had once been swept in a ponytail now hung down around her like a curtain that wasn't actually trying to conceal anything. In her black eyes she still seemed to hold the joy of the world even though she was desperatelytrying to hide the long jagged scar that lined her back. The dragon wings still sat on her hand and the tail still wound round her arm stopping at her elbow.

Ryu, obviously the leader, regards her lightly. "You're the only one of us who actually has anything left to go back to," he says. "It's your call." Anyone could tell by looking at them this group would follow each other to the ends of the earth after what they had endured together. They were a family, and right now all attention was on their black-haired sister. When she speaks they all listen, they can't help it. "Let's go home." They all nod and get ready to head out. Riyu notices his companion (companion because he can't seem to regard the girl as a sister) lagging. She is looking at the sunset as if it holds a precious memory. He approaches her and lightly touches her shoulder. "Lori?" She turns and nods at him then begins to head out with the rest. She faintly smiles thinking of the blonde blur of hair in her memories. "Maybe somehow I'll win that bet after all," she thinks. "Believe it."


End file.
